Guest Blog: Nature As the Quintessential Master

Photograph and Commentary by Sally W. Donatello

Some experiences simply change the way you see. They open internal vistas with a profound gesture. They halt the breath almost as if a gleaming crystal ball rolled in your pathway. On a recent clear and crisp spring afternoon my grandson and I shared such an illumination.

Delaware’s Reedy Point Bridge carries you across the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, leading you from city to rural landscapes. The visual architectural eloquence of the bridge defies its materials. The metal is cold and gray; straight lines bend slightly in its expanse, yet its austere beauty is evident and parallels the magnificence of those that are wedged in its embrace. The bridge’s crossbeams hold a secret: a stunning display of Nature’s triumph over humanity’s intervention. There high above our viewpoint lives a pair of nesting peregrine falcons.

The day was meant to introduce my grandson to fossil hunting and this area is one of the prime locations in Delaware for such an adventure. The Army Corps of Engineers dredges the canal and drops the spoils for eager fossil hunters to investigate. Our group of children and adults were anxious. We had all the necessary equipment and could not wait to expose the common fossils from the Cretaceous Period (some 60 million plus years ago). Everyone climbed the large mounts of dredge spoils and all were successful in unearthing ancient treasures. It was a thrill and we did exceptionally well. But the most memorable part of the day was seeing a peregrine falcon, up close and personal.

One of our companions had brought a high-powered telescope, because he knew exactly where the falcons were nesting. When the eye spies a falcon, there are no words to express the expansion of senses that occurs. There are moments to rejoice and there are moments to savor. For me my own reaction did not equal the explosion of emotion that I saw on my nine-year-old grandson’s face as he gasped at the sighting of this majestic bird of prey.

Nature is the quintessential master of our Universe, and it is good news that the peregrine falcon has returned to Delaware. How lucky for us that we became witnesses to a symbol of America's recovering threatened and endangered species.